Hall of Famer Jim Leyland Regrets Cussing Out Barry Bonds
NASHVILLE — Jim Leyland knew where the question was leading.
In fact, he answered it before it was asked.
The newest Baseball Hall of Famer was introduced to the gathered baseball media for a press conference at the Gaylord Opryland Resort on Monday.
Leyland, who won Manager of the Year three times and won a World Series with the Miami Marlins in 1997, managed Barry Bonds for the first seven seasons of the controversial slugger's career with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
"He called me last night, [our relationship] is great," said Leyland, who waited a beat before adding, "except for about five minutes one day."
Leyland, who turns 79 on Dec. 15, plays a starring role in a 1991 video that went viral when it was posted online more than a decade ago. And it's still getting plenty of views. A cameraman caught Leyland going off on Bonds during a spring training workout.
Different versions of the video and audio have been posted on YouTube, and combined, they have been viewed more than four million times. Leyland is seen and heard dressing down Bonds with a flurry of expletives. Bonds, for the most part, is left speechless in the video. Bonds left for the San Francisco Giants two seasons later.
Leyland said the blowup was the result of a misunderstanding.
"I'm not proud of that to this day," he said. "It happened. And you can't turn away from it because everybody saw it, so you can't act like it didn't happen. But I'm not proud of that."
What was he not proud of? That it was caught on video and shared with the world? Or what he said to Bonds that day?
"My language was bad for the whole world to see," Leyland said.
The video has been a lightning rod for Bonds haters, who accused him of being a prima donna. Leyland, however, has always defended him, and the two remain close. That's why Bonds called him Sunday night to congratulate him on the Hall of Fame induction.
Leyland was named on 15 of 16 ballots by the Hall of Fame's contemporary baseball era committee. The committee reviews the relevant cases of managers, umpires, and executives whose greatest contributions came after 1980.
Leyland will be inducted on July 21 in Cooperstown, N.Y. He's the 23rd manager and the first since 2014 to be inducted.
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